The Peak 100 was designed by Harry Midwood of the Bedford Sailplane Design Group and the only prototype was built by Peak Sailplanes at
Chapel-en-le-Frith in
Derbyshire. Seating two side-by-side, it was intended to be suitable for training at elementary and advanced levels and to have a performance high enough for competitions. The Peak 100 had a
cantilever,
shoulder-mounted, long-span wing of thick section and straight tapered plan, constructed in three parts with a 28 ft (8.53 m) centre section and a pair of 16 ft (4.88 m) outer panels. It was built around two
spruce spars with
birch plywood webs and had stressed birch ply skin back to the rear spar, with
fabric covering behind. The outer panels carried fabric-covered, long span, aerodynamically balanced
ailerons and a pair of DFS-type
spoilers which extended above and below the wing were mounted on the centre section rear spar. The
fuselage of the Peak 100 had a welded steel tube structure, fabric covered apart from
glass fibre nose and centre section
fairings. Details of the steel structure were designed by Aviation and Engineering Projects Ltd and the wide, forward-sliding, one-piece
canopy was made by
English Electric. The original nose was very blunt and rounded; the flat-sided fuselage tapered towards the tail. An
all-moving tailpane was mounted at the base of the
fin. The tailplane was straight tapered, mostly on its trailing edge; it had a wooden structure, with a ply-covered leading edge and fabric elsewhere. It was fitted with
anti-balance and
trim tabs. The fin and horn-
balanced rudder were also straight edged apart from a slightly rounded rudder top; the rudder was short, ending above the tailplane. Fin and rudder both had wooden structures, the former ply skinned and the latter mostly fabric covered. The Peak 100's undercarriage was a little unusual in having two wheels in
tandem rather than the more common monowheel plus skid arrangement. It was claimed this made ground handling under heavy conditions easier. There was also a small tailskid. The first flight had been expected in 1962 but was delayed until 5 February 1963, piloted by Harry Midwood. This took place from
Cranfield,
Bedfordshire. Bad weather prevented much flying and so the aircraft went back to Peak Sailplanes for a lengthening and lowering of the nose, giving it a slightly more pointed look. Serious testing resumed at
Long Mynd that Easter and was ongoing in August. It received its
BGA certificate of airworthiness no.
BGA 1140. ==Operational history==